At the Break of Dawn
by UnoriginalToast
Summary: After Yona is injured in battle and Yun along with the four dragons are summoned away, Hak tends to her. The two share a short moment at dawn. (Oneshot, fluff, drabble)
_An alternate account of events after Chapter 121. No real spoilers per-sey, but it might be better to be caught up with the manga, just in case! Also, please forgive any perceived character name misspellings-I read various different translations and am not sure which spellings are accepted in the fandom!_

 _A short piece I wrote instead of studying. Enjoy._

* * *

It only took a second for Hak to see that something was wrong as Zeno knelt under the weight of the princess falling to the ground on her knees. It took only a another second for Hak to take off running in the middle of a conversation, letting his last word trail into incoherency as he focused his attention onto a matter much more important.

As he approached, he saw Yona struggling to both stand and stay conscious as Zeno, along with the others, asked her to please remain sitting. Hak quickly approached and was able to see blood coming from her ankle. She couldn't stand, even with Zeno's help.

"We need to find a safe place to rest," Jae-Ha was saying as Hak finally came up to the group. Kija nodded and watched as Hak knelt down to Yona's level. He didn't touch her or move her. Instead, he studied her face with intent, as one does a priceless original painting, or a family member they may not see again.

"I'm alright, Hak." Yona said weakly, "It's just a scrape on my ankle. Nothing to worry about." Hak frowned. He couldn't explain why exactly, but, although he could deal with Yona being hurt, he hated her trying to cover it up like it was nothing. Perhaps it was irrational, but it made him feel worse about his perceived failure than just acknowledging the injury at face value.

A minute passed before Hak moved. He placed his hand on Yona's shoulder, both to help lift himself up to a standing position and to silently tell the princess to stay down. "Jae-Ha, Shin-Ah, and Kija, go to the generals and see what more needs to be done here. Yun, Zeno and I will take the princess to a safe place in the woods where she can be tended to and rest. Once we meet up again, we'll find a nearby village to go to rest."

The dragons nodded. Though they were usually headstrong and unwilling to at least initially follow Hak's orders, they knew they shouldn't dare cross him when Yona was harmed. He may not be a dragon of legend, but they were not going to test their luck by getting on his bad side.

The three walked off towards where the generals had gathered to discuss their next steps. Hak looked back down at Yona who was oddly silent and staring at the ground. He crouched down on the balls of his heels and moved some hair from her face. "You did a decent job, Princess. Now rest." His lips twisted up into a coy smile which rested oddly against his somber eyes. He was worried for the princess, yes, but still felt the need to tease her. Another part of him was proud of the woman she was becoming—strong, brave, and compassionate. Nothing at all like the materialistic princess he was in charge of only a year before.

Yona looked up and studied his face for a moment. "Alright," she said, barely above a whisper. She had been sitting upright on her knees, but settled herself down onto the back of her heels and leaned forward against Hak, who swiftly stood up with her. He noted in the back of his mind that she seemed once again lighter, but attributed it to adrenaline and the strenuous past few days.

The tall man turned to Yun and Zeno and the three began to hurry towards the forest, before they were seen by the others in the area or stopped by Soo-Won or one of his generals.

* * *

They walked for an hour to find a spot in the woods with enough shade but still wide enough to make camp. The walk was silent, as the three had little to say to each other and Yona had drifted off before Hak even stood up with her. He briefly noted in the back of his mind that it was a quiet walk in part because Kija and Jae-Ha usually had something to say, and Yona would also liven the dreary long walks with musings and chats. The silence didn't exactly make Hak uneasy, but it was strange and not preferable.

Yun and Zeno quickly set up the smaller tent so that Hak could settle Yona down. He then moved aside to let Yun clean her up and wrap her ankle. He didn't exactly want to leave the tent, but he certainly wasn't going to stay and get in the way. Though, now he had to wait awkwardly around, as Zeno had already taken on the job of finding firewood. Hak busied himself with setting up the rest of camp until Yun emerged from the tent. He glanced over at the younger boy, but quickly softened his gaze to seem less frantic.

"She'll be alright," Yun said in an almost bored tone. "Her ankle's pretty bad, though. That's going to take time time to heal. But as long as her wounds heal up alright, she should be fine after a day or two's rest."

"Thank you." Hak said genuinely. Yun had proven himself very useful as their friendship grew over the past few months. Not to mention, it does no good to insult the cook.

The two continued to set up the camp until Zeno came back with the firewood. Once the fire started and burned for a little bit, Yun was able to begin cooking. The three enjoyed a silent, but warm meal as the sun began to set over the horizon.

Yun and Zeno went to bed shortly after cleaning up and Hak sat down against the tree closest to Yona's tent. He would keep watch until one of the Dragons came back. Or, he would be awake all night waiting for them. It seemed like there was still quite the mess to clean up back at the battle sight. If there wasn't, they'd have meet up by now. Between Shin-Ah's eyes and Jae-Ha's legs, they'd be able to find the small group without a problem once they were able to leave.

An hour after everyone had gone to bed, Hak knelt forward and crawled over on his hands and knees a few inches to Yona's tent. Quietly, he pulled back the curtain and peered inside. She was still asleep, of course, but she seemed much more peaceful than before. He had no doubt that Yun's medicines eased her pain, even in her sleep. That was one thing Hak noted—she could pretend to be alright all she wanted while she was awake, but once asleep, her face showed all of her emotions. He also found himself pleased and happy that she seemed peaceful and lingered at the entrance to the tent for a few minutes.

Hours later, after Hak had returned to his watch position, he heard a rustling of the bushes and a twig snap. After months on the road and years of hearing various wilderness sounds, he knew instantly that these were people, not the typical animals of the night. He had a feeling it was the dragons coming to find the camp, but placed his hand on his weapon just in case.

His intuition was correct and from the wilderness appeared Shin-Ah and Kija. He quickly noticed that the other dragon wasn't with them. Not that he was exactly upset, but it was an observation.

"Where's droopy eyes?" He said, a coy smile appearing on his lips. He never expected Shin-Ah to respond, even nonverbally, but Kija still had a somber look upon him. For a moment a cold shock rippled through Hak and he briefly worried that something bad had happened to the green dragon.

"We need Yun and Zeno," Kija said as he walked over to where Hak was. Hak frowned at the lack of further explanation.

"That wasn't part of the plan," he said dryly. "We need to all come meet up now so we can move onto a village tomorrow. Besides, I can see why you'd want all of you dragons together, but what would you need Yun for?"

"There's a lot of injured," Kija explained. "Yun might not be trained, but he is a medic and they need all the healers they can get right now. As for Zeno, we need backup for protection of the camp Soo-Won and the generals are making. We'd have you come, but that one general seemed really mad and we wouldn't want a fight to break out."

Hak nodded. It made sense. And although he was worried about the dragons being captured, he knew they could take care of themselves. He also didn't want to bring Yona along back to the battle site, for fear the public opinion would shift and they would try to capture her, or worse. "Fine," he responded. "The princess and I will stay here, then until you come back. But don't take too long. And I'm not waking those two up." Kija rolled his eyes at that, but nodded and went to get Yun and Zeno.

After everyone had packed what was needed and there were only two left at the camp, Hak leaned back against the tree. It seemed even more quiet now with Zeno and Yun gone. Although he hadn't been able to hear their soft snores, he could feel their absence.

* * *

As the sun rose over the trees and the birds began chirping in the distance, Hak began to make a small meal out of what Zeno and Yun left behind. After cleaning up, he went over to the tent to check on the Princess. When he pulled back the curtain, she seemed to still be peacefully sleeping. He lingered for a moment and was about to move to his post when he heard the bedding rustle and the girl let out a soft groan. Hak moved in closer and sat with his legs crossed in front of the princess.

The first thing Yona noticed was that she was warm, but her ankle hurt more than it ever had before. Perhaps she shouldn't have continued to walk on it, and she certainly shouldn't have run on it, but she had to escape and find safety. She remembered coming back to the group, Hak running over to her, and then drifting off as Hak lifted her up to take her to safety. She felt awful about having to be saved, but a sense of pride lingered over her because she was able to save Lily and help others.

"Let's go, Princess. Wake up. I don't have all day."

Yona felt a brief flash of anger, but it quickly ebbed away to a feeling of comfort. Hak was there. If Hak was there, she must be alright. Plus, even though the comment was rude, she heard a slight tone of concern.

"I'm awake! Calm down already!" Yona responded as her eyes fluttered open and Hak's frowning face came into focus. He stared at her for another minute because, even though Yona thought she had responded clearly to him, the princess had merely strung some syllables together in an incomprehensible mumble.

After a moment of silence had passed, Hak helped her sit up and gave her some water. She winced as her ankle was jostled, but refused to draw any other attention to the pain. "Where is Yun and the others?" she asked once she was able to speak properly.

"They had to go back to the battle site to tend to wounds and protect the camp." Hak explained. "They'll be back soon and we'll go to a nearby village to rest and heal your ankle."

"I'm alright. I'll be fine in no time!" Yona smiled and Hak stared back at her. "Well," Yona said, "I'll be fine soon. And then I'll just have to get stronger."

"You need to stay off that ankle for a while, Princess." Hak said factually. "You can't practice with the sword for a while."

"I could practice with the bow."

"Sitting down? You won't really learn anything."

Yona pouted and glared at her bodyguard. "Why do you have to be so negative? You don't know that!" Although, he was extremely skilled at weaponry. He probably did actually know that. But, she didn't like it when he was always so negative. Maybe she'd be fine in a month, maybe in a week. Either way, she was going to do what she could to get stronger.

Hak didn't answer her. Instead, he studied her face for a moment. "Why are you so worried about getting stronger?" He asked. Yona was a little surprised by the question. She thought he knew.

"Ik-Soo said that if you continued on the same path you were on when we met him, you would die." She said. "I can't change the journey we're on, but I can change how weak I am. If I get stronger, I can protect you."

"It's my job to protect you, Princess." Hak replied.

"Yes, and I expect you to continue to do so." Yona replied with a frown to match Hak's. "But we're also friends. And I won't let anything happen to you."

Yona held her gaze until Hak looked away from her with a slight smile and a sigh.

"You've changed, Princess."

Yona smiled. "I know. I might not live in the castle anymore. But, I want to be the best princess I can be."

Hak looked back at her. He recognized the perfect moment to tease her or criticize her, but instead, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're getting there." Okay, so not the most heartfelt thing he could have said, but it still brought a smile to Yona's lips.

"Thanks, Hak." She said with a yawn. Hak pulled back the blankets over her ankle and took a look at the bandage. It was bloodied, but not soaked. He needed to change it, though, but worried he wouldn't have the gentle touch that Yun does.

He grabbed the roll of bandages and got to work stripping back the bandage and unwrapping the princess's ankle. He saw the puncture wound where she was shot by the arrow and could tell a bone was bent out of place. Thankfully, the wound was healing and only bleeding a little. He cleaned it out with water, which was obviously the most painful for Yona, but she didn't make a sound. If he hadn't looked up to see her face, he never would have known the was in pain, or even still awake.

Once the wound was cleaned, Hak wrapped the ankle back up in a fresh bandage. When he was done, he placed the blankets over her leg once again and sat back up. Yona smiled weakly at him and without pausing, Hak used his hand to brush her bangs aside before resting it on her forehead. It was slightly warm and she was sweating.

"I apologize, Princess," he sighed. "I put you under much stress."

"Oh, it's nothing. I barely felt anything!" Yona said with a brave smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. There she went again, pretending all was fine.

"You should rest."

"Hak?"

"Hmm?"

Yona paused for a moment, trying to find the words to say. She glanced down at herself, staring at the blankets that rested atop her wounded ankle. "Hak, thank you." She said and glanced back up, meeting his eyes. "I wouldn't be this far without you."

"Of course not." He smirked.

Yona ignored his comment. "I'm glad you came to work for me. And I'm glad you've stayed by my side. I really… Really don't know where I'd be without you. Hak, you're truly my best friend and I've wanted to say this for a while, but I never knew how." She paused for a moment and took a breath. "Hak, I lo—"

"Go to sleep."

"What?"

Hak smiled at her, a warm and open smile. "Go to sleep. You need the rest."

"Hak, I'm trying to tell you something!" Yona said with a pout, actually a little hurt that she wasn't able to finish her spiel.

"Yun would kill me for having you still up. Obviously redressing the wound stressed you out and I can tell you're still exhausted. Go to sleep. I'll let you know when the others come back."

Yona thought for a moment about protesting, but sighed. She knew he was right—she was exhausted. What was she even thinking anyway? She was probably just rambling on, too tired to really filter herself. She slowly laid back down as Hak pulled up the blankets. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was asleep.

Hak watched her for a moment. Why had he cut her off? Well, he had been right—she needed her sleep, and Yun wouldn't be happy to know she had been awake and stressed as long as she had been. Maybe also Hak just didn't want to talk. But, perhaps, he mostly didn't want to deal with whatever she was about to say. They all needed their rest—Hak included, and with emotions running so high, he couldn't be bothered with feelings.

Besides, he figured. If it's important enough, it can wait.


End file.
